SimonOxfPhys Book Club discussion

I'm just over third of the way through this book and very much enjoying it so far. So much so that I kind of wish I'd studied classics at uni instead of physics...
Lots of insights into how societies form their mythologies, and about the nature of how historical and political analysis developed in the ancient world, as well as changing my view of just how many pieces of writing survived from the republic. What are people's views on the book?

Yaaaas big up the Classics!!! You're actually a better Classics student than me Simon because I started it in December and am still only in the Roman Republic :( I'm a slow reader... I think it's a fantastic summary of Roman History though, it's academic enough that it's worthwhile reading for any scholar but still so well written so that it's super readable for anyone new to the subject. SPQR raises questions about the romans that are relevant to today (I've discussed loads of the ideas Mazza B puts forward in seminars at uni, her research is really up to date) and as far as I can see the Queen of Classics (all hail Mary) has included all of the most important things one should know about Rome (I especially like that there are pictures of the key archeological finds). All in all I think it's a stellar book and I'm not just saying that because I'm a bit obsessed with Mary Beard xoxo

Well, it has only been forever but I finally got the book! I finished the intro and the first chapter. So far, so good.

Finally went to get the book, college has been mad, just getting into it. Seems eloquently written and I'm intrigued to read more.

I've reached page 103, which feels like an accomplishment considering how my week has been. I found it fascinating that some of the characters we've grown up with in Roman history may actually have been more myth than reality. I've been teaching my kids Latin for the last two years. A lot of the characters that are mentioned in the chapter 2 are also covered in their studies. Romulus and Remes I suspected as being more myth than fact, but I was surprised to find out that so many of the other Romans we have been studying were actually more myth than fact (that we know of so far).

I've read the first 100 pages yesterday. What a gripping, brilliant book so far.

P.S I know I'm very behind, I'm catching up